July 24, 2022
Published by 
Dan Isard on July 24, 2022
Dan Isard on July 24, 2022I appreciated attending the 2022 ICCFA Annual Convention in Las Vegas. It gave all of us there a feeling of what normal used to be. As I was walking through the exhibit area, one person stopped me and asked, “Is there one single thing we can do to enhance our revenue?” I pondered the question as asked and felt that the topic should be treated as three questions: How do we know what our revenue should be? Is there something we can do to enhance revenue? Is there one single thing we can do to enhance revenue? Allow me to answer the one question, three ways. How do we know what our revenue should be? This is simple math. Revenue should be equal to or greater than overhead. Whether you are a cemetery, funeral home, trade service, or combination operation, […]
July 24, 2022
Published by 
Gabriel Ngo on July 24, 2022
Gabriel Ngo on July 24, 2022E-commerce Is What Families Are Expecting Serve future customers. Is that not what all businesses set out to do? Substitute “customers” with “families” and replace “stores” with “funeral homes” and the quote below from the CEO of Walmart could have easily come from Tom Ryan (SCI), Mel Payne (Carriage), Brad Green (Park Lawn), or any other CEO for companies in the funeral, cemetery, and cremation profession. Or replace “customers” with “patients” and “stores” with “hospitals” and this quote can easily apply to hospitals/healthcare as well (and make no mistake about it folks, hospitals are businesses, with the majority of them being for profit). However, the part of the quote that I would like to focus on is “e-commerce” (before tying it all back to the rest of the quote and what it all means to you). So, what is e-commerce? […]
July 24, 2022
Published by Dan Isard on July 24, 2022
Dan Isard on July 24, 2022I have seen many changes in the funeral service profession during my career. Some of these changes created challenges to the business plan with which funeral directors were indoctrinated, such as cremation and funerals without merchandise. Some involved operating trials, such as the rise of price-focused competitors. Others arise from cultural challenges that have changed the consumer’s paradigm, such as natural burial, alkaline hydrolysis and other new-fangled horticultural burial offerings. Any/all of these factors could change the future of funeral service by impairing your profit. There is one change moving along at full speed, however, that could be part of the future in a positive way: the rise of women and minorities coming into this business. The single largest problem the funeral service profession must deal with is who is going to serve families. I love that technology now allows […]
June 27, 2022
Published by Dan Isard on June 27, 2022
Dan Isard on June 27, 2022Spoiler alert! There is no Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy, and please don’t make me talk about Sasquatch. I am the person who has been saying for four decades, preneed is not an asset. I am not reversing my stance on this. You can’t argue against the existence of gravity and that pre-need is a liability. You can put cushions on the ground so when gravity takes your body from the tree limb you have a chance to walk away. By the same token, you can make good decisions in the administration of your preneed program to protect this liability from being too large of a liability. I will explain in this article. However, the theme of this article is that pre-need can add value to your business. I will explain that as well. Math Doesn’t Lie In the worlds of […]
June 27, 2022
Published by 
Nicole Vullo on June 27, 2022
Nicole Vullo on June 27, 2022Get Cohesive, Get Practical, Get Going! Generally speaking, when someone tells you to “have fun,” one cannot help but wonder if that is a genuine expression or some type of passive-aggressive warning. Think of when a woman says it to her boyfriend or spouse when he wants to have a “guy’s night” or a day of golf with his buddies. Yes, ladies, we have all been there! But I am here to tell you wholeheartedly that when it comes to marketing your funeral home or cemetery business, I want you to have F.U.N.— Functional, Unique, and Neat marketing elements. F for Functional Marketing Every business, regardless of its industry and vertical, needs a cohesive marketing strategy to engage with its audience enough so that they will buy the product or services offered. This is where functional marketing comes into play. […]